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Charity analysis
How do you choose great charities?
I was contacted recently by a friend who has quit her job in investment banking to travel solo on her motorbike from London to Cape Town. She wants to devote at least a month of her …
Non-profit performance evaluation: strategy (part 5 of 6)
Recently a financial advisor asked: what has surprised you the most when evaluating charities? I did not have to think long about the answer. It’s an outstanding juxtaposition: I constantly find good intentions and big …
Non-profit performance evaluation: leverage (part 4 of 6)
A high-performing non-profit must be constantly finding ways to better leverage its human and financial resources. The same benefits that businesses derive from improved efficiencies apply to charities. You have to learn how to increase …
Nonprofit performance evaluation: financial management (part 2 of 6)
High-performing non-profits must understand how to manage their money. Charities cannot promise great things to supporters and run out of resources along the way. A delicate balance of maintaining healthy reserves, minimizing debt and sticking …
A grand unified theory of effective giving starts with beneficiaries
‘What do you think of our team?’ asked the chairman of a new foundation. I hesitated, fearing he would dislike my answer. The trustees were experts in only two of their three focus areas; none …
Giving poorly can be worse than not giving at all
What if your donation to fight human trafficking paid the salary of a human trafficker? What if your donation to support widowed law enforcement families went to a felon’s bank account? What if your child …
Selecting charities on the basis of good impact reporting
When the Guardian and Observer 2010 Christmas Appeal launched at the weekend, I had two reasons to celebrate. The first was that the funds raised will go to ten great charities working with young people in the …
Why do people so dislike Martin Brookes’ framework for rating causes?
There’s nothing controversial about the idea of rating non-profit organizations according to their effectiveness or lack of. The field of philanthropy is positively swimming with initiatives to develop metrics for measuring effectiveness and impact. Never …
Can you, and should you, encourage better giving?
I’m going to ask you a question and I want you to be honest. How many of you feel a little bit annoyed when you hear that a widow has left her entire inheritance to …
Philanthropedia publishes self-assessment
Philanthropedia, which ranks non-profits on the basis of soliciting and analysing experts’ opinions, has produced a white paper entitled ‘Consolidating Expert Opinion about High-Impact Nonprofits: Review of Philanthropedia’s Methodology’. Through consideration of the four areas …
